New details have emerged about the co-pilot accused of attacking the captain of a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, including reports that he had earlier been taken out of a role at Oman’s national airline over concerns about his views.

What happened on board

The incident took place on Wednesday on Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain inside the cockpit, and the aircraft lost around 17,000 feet of altitude during the struggle. The captain managed to unlock the cockpit door, passengers overpowered the co-pilot, and two off-duty pilots travelling on the flight took control and made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

The captain, Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, was seriously wounded. India’s embassy in the UAE said he has been moved to Abu Dhabi for further treatment and is recovering well. In a video call with India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, he said he had been fighting for his life and could not let everyone else die.

Latest developments

Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said the co-pilot was medically cleared and left for Abu Dhabi with a security team. ABC News, citing sources briefed on the investigation, reported that he is cooperating with authorities and has indicated he intended to crash the aircraft in Israel. That account has not been confirmed officially.

The UAE attorney general has ordered an investigation into the circumstances and motives, including whether the incident was linked to terrorist activity or prior planning. UAE authorities have jurisdiction because the aircraft is registered in the country. Israeli investigators are expected to take part in the UAE-led inquiry.

A Flydubai spokesperson said that, at this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation.

Who is Hamam al-Hammami

The suspect has been identified as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national. ABC News gave his age as 29. He was born in the United Arab Emirates to an Omani father and a Syrian mother and lived in the Emirates for several years.

CNN, citing two sources, reported that he was removed in 2025 from a position linked to flight training at Oman Air because of concerns about his radical views. According to one of the sources, he was then given a different role within the company. ABC News, citing intelligence and law enforcement officials, reported that extremist material was found in his possession in 2024 while he was a trainee co-pilot, and that he was allowed to continue in an administrative role. The reports differ on timing.

A LinkedIn profile in his name said he worked at Oman Air for seven years until February 2025, then joined Royal Air Maroc in June 2025, where he stayed until January 2026. The profile did not mention Flydubai and has since been deleted. An Israeli official said he had worked at Flydubai for only eight months.

The profile also said he studied at Buckinghamshire New University in England. A university source confirmed to CNN that a man of that name completed a three-year distance-learning course and graduated in 2023 with a degree in aviation management.

The posts under examination

Two posts appeared on the LinkedIn profile on Wednesday, roughly nine hours after the incident. It has not been established who published them or whether they had been scheduled in advance.

The first contained videos filmed from the cockpits of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. CNN geolocated one of them to Dubai International Airport, where the camera focuses on an El Al aircraft. The cockpit display showed the flight number OMA624 and the date 11 October 2023, when al-Hammami was working at Oman Air. Other clips show further El Al aircraft and one belonging to Arkia. The video ends with photographs of Ayman al-Zawahiri, who led al-Qaeda after the death of Osama bin Laden, and Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who carried out a 2009 suicide bombing that killed nine people, including seven CIA officers and contractors.

The second post featured an AI-generated image of Islam’s three holiest sites, in Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, linked by a glowing line. A poem recited in the background referred to rejecting humiliation, not fearing death and defending dignity.

The same two videos were posted at around the same time on an Instagram account with the same name and photographs, which has also been deleted.

Questions over how he joined the flight

The disclosures raise questions about how a citizen of Oman, which does not recognise Israel, came to be part of the crew on a flight to Tel Aviv, given the strict security checks that apply to flights to the country. Sources told CBS News it is possible he held dual citizenship, which could explain how he was permitted to fly there.

An Israeli official said the Shin Bet, Mossad, the Israeli armed forces and the Transport Ministry are all examining the matter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the suspect is believed to have undergone “Islamist radicalisation”. He also said the suspect was questioned in Saudi Arabia, where the flight had been diverted, and that Israel is taking part in the process, after he spoke with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.

US President Donald Trump has suggested the co-pilot may be linked to Iran, without giving details, while Netanyahu said it was too early to say whether Iran could have been involved. No evidence of any such link has been made public.

Flydubai has said it cannot comment while the official investigation is under way.